The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

3. To the Emperor’s Preference

Translator: Xie Jiawei

Proofread by Peter Gong

When Xu Zhiwei picks the first piece of rib clip out of the pot with long bamboo chopsticks, Mr. Weng, who has just been seated, immediately stands up. He smells something he has never smelled before. The fragrance, mixed with the aroma of fried meat and bones, permeates the air and went all the way from his nostrils to his brain. In the past, when waiting for tasting Xu Zhiwei’s dishes, Mr. Weng would also feel surprised, but he is shocked today, because he foresees what he will taste must be an absolutely new delicious dish.

Xu Zhiwei, fully absorbed in frying the ribs, doesn’t notice Mr. Weng’s movements. It’s indeed a process which requires concentration, and one has to make the most of his sight, sense of smell and touch. Accurate observation of the color of the ribs in the oil requires eyes that are not affected by smoke and fire. A sensitive nose that is not disturbed by the smoke from the burning of charcoal is needed to determine the optimum aroma of the ribs. The sense of touch helps determine the temperature of the oil by feeling the vaporized oil and thus controls the fire in the hearth. Other chefs use the backs of their hands to sense oil and gas temperatures, but Xu prefers to use his face because the feeling of the hand is not sensitive or accurate enough. But the face is different, not only is it sensitive, but the feeling of each place on the face is different as well. For example, the auricular capillaries are the most abundant and the most sensitive, while the forehead is the dullest. Other organs such as cheek, lip, and eyelid can make more accurate judgments by comprehensive comparison.

After the ribs are fried, the heat needs to be turned down. Then it’s time to make the sauce in a clean pot. As the sticky juices continue to bubble up with the size of copper plates, Xu Zhiwei pours the ribs into the pan and quickly shakes it. Deep-fried golden ribs bounce around in the pan, with the sweet juices evenly covering the ribs.

After a period of shaking, when the pot gets clean and smooth, it means the juices are all over the ribs. At this time, the ribs become red, like garnet gemstones. Before taking them out of the pot, Xu Zhiwei pours a little balsamic vinegar and half a spoon of hot oil on the ribs so that the ribs can become deep red, and crystal clear, just like azure stones. And in addition to the smell of oil and ribs, there is a sweet and sour taste that can penetrate the heart and tease the tongue, immediately stimulating people’s appetite.

Mr. Weng looks at this plate of ribs and does not start eating because he is appreciating and contemplating, but in the face of this special dish, he feels a little unfamiliar, and even a little nervous.

“The way of cooking this dish is different from that of the Wuxi ribs cooked in my hometown, which is less braised and only deep-fried. But with the refined oil, and the right heat…” Xu Zhiwei does not urge Mr. Weng to taste, just chattering about his cooking method.

“Right, I see.” Mr. Weng stops Xu Zhiwei’s chatter. He needs a quiet place at the moment, as if appreciating a profound poem. He needs to find beauty with quietness. There is no sound in the Imperial Kitchen. Mr. Weng picks up his chopsticks and starts tasting it, and relishes it quietly. After eating three pieces in a row, Mr. Weng exclaims, “Wonderful!”

After Mr. Weng finishes his sentence, Xu Zhiwei picks up the conversation interrupted before, “I heard a few days ago that the little master was too tired to eat. It mainly comes down to two respects: the first one is the essence of life. If the essence of life is exhausted, one is less able to recognize the flavor. Therefore, I have to enable him to notice the flavor by rich smell and flavor.”

“With the aroma of fried ribs.” Mr. Weng puts in a word to show that he understands perfectly what Xu Zhiwei means.

“Then there is physical exhaustion. Physical exhaustion reduces digestive ability and causes satiety of oil, meat and salty fresh. Only sweet and spicy food can stimulate his taste buds. But His Majesty is young, and his taste buds are not for spicy, therefore, as for him the best stimulating taste should be sweet. “Sweetness is innate, and the first thing that we taste shortly after birth is sweet, so it appeals to everyone, especially children.”

“So your ribs are sweet as well as salty, but they’re all to highlight the sweet and sour.” Mr. Weng adds, again to the point.

“Yes, and the sweetness of this is different from that of the refreshments. The sweet taste of snacks is dry, simple and less lubricated. With no fresh salty and slightly sour and meat and bone fragrance, it can only be tasted a little. And the sparerib is a main course, and our masters can have a lot without feeling tired of it.” Xu Zhiwei is not the kind of person who belittles others, but today the ribs make him feel really somewhat proud, so he says a little boastfully.

“I have heard that the Empress Dowager have issued the imperial decree to make each chef in the Imperial Kitchen prepare three dishes within three days for the “Feast to the Emperor’s Taste”, with a view to whet the emperor’s appetite for food. She also promises a great reward. Whoever succeeds can be rich and honored. Do you want to be the first to figure out this dish catering to the emperor’s appetite?”

“Mr. Weng, try some more. Perhaps no one knows out His Majesty’s preferences better than you do these days, so see if this dish can make His Majesty happy.” Mr. Weng picks up a piece of rib, but before putting it in his mouth, something popped into his mind, so he puts it into his plate and the chopsticks back by his plate. “You think this feast is a chance for you?” Mr. Weng’s question is quite puzzling.

“Isn’t it?” Xu Zhiwei asks in reply.

“Good and bad things tend to co-exist, and opportunity may be a curse. There have been similar cases in the past, but the results have been mixed. In the 11th year of Yongzheng Reign, the ‘Feast to the Emperor’s Liking’ was arranged, but no dishes satisfied the emperor. Then half the chefs of the Imperial Kitchens were driven out of the palace and exiled to frontiers in the North. The number of exiles was agreed upon by the Imperial Household Department and Dish Ordering Department. You don’t want to be defiled with the likes of De Gonggong before, and if that happens, you must be among the exiles. Another case in the 3rd year of Jiaqing Reign, Lotus of Jade-Like Meat won a public praise in the Elderly Feast. It should have won the first prize. But because it was delicious, they ate much. But this vegetable oil was rich, and after eating many people got diarrhea. So the chef was found guilty of regicide and sentenced to death, and all his family memberswere put into prison. So an unusual dish might bring about contingencies, and this sparerib is new, and no one can guarantee everything will go smoothly.”

“I believe that nothing will happen no matter how much they have, so the second scenario won’t happen. As for the first, even for the sake of saving myself from misfortune, I should spare no effort to satisfy His Majesty’s appetite.”

“Probably even avoiding the first situation is beyond your ability, because even if your dish is delicious, it is unlikely to be tasted by the emperor.” Mr. Weng shakes his head slightly.

“And why? Hasn’t the Empress Dowager ordered that everyone can serve dishes?” Xu Zhiwei is very surprised.

“Alas! Do you know how the servility of a flunky is manifested? That is, even if he is not good enough, he cannot let others benefit more than himself, not to mention that this person is the object of his usual bullying and oppression. So they would rather be condemned than have such an object get the upper hand, becoming their better and reversing the established order.”

“You mean during this feast where everyone has a chance to serve food, I still can’t present this unique dish.”

“I’m not absolutely sure, but you can see for yourself after the first day.” Mr. Weng says this before picking up the chopsticks, savoring the delicious spareribs.

“The Feast to the Emperor’s Taste” begins, but there is no joy for the chefs. Some of the old chefs may have heard of the consequences of not serving their own dishes as prescribed in the past, and they may feel nervous. Also some chefs spare no efforts to take this opportunity to climb up the social ladder, so everyone is extra cautious. Therefore, the whole Imperial Kitchen is enveloped in an atmosphere of dullness, cowering and hostility.

Xu Zhiwei should be more nervous than others. Because if, as Mr. Weng said, he has no chance to serve his own dishes at the Feast where everyone is supposed to have a chance and other dishes fail to delight the young master, he will be the most innocent but also the first to take the Empress Dowager’s blame.

But it does not seem to go on as Mr. Weng fears and all the dishes are sent to the Pass-through Room, including his honey-sauce ribs. Although his dish is served late, he sees that his dish has been served. So Mr. Weng’s worry should be unnecessary. The Feast requires that every chef should serve his own dish, so no one dares to ignore the decree. If his dish really fails to be delivered to the Pass-through Room, and once he makes it known to all, those who usually secretly take bribes will have to take the consequences.

The first day of the Feast is longer than usual, which is not beyond expectation. After all, it is different from the usual dishes, and the emperor will slowly try a few more. And because it is the” Feast to the Emperor’s Taste”, the dishes are completely different, and are are all cooked by chefs with extreme dedication and deliberation, so not only the emperor samples the delicacy, but the Empress Dowagers Ci’An, and CiXi also come to taste.

Another difference on this day is that it is not the maids who serve the dishes, but the masters will specify the dish they are interested in. So as long as the color, aroma and shape of the dish are all perfect, it is possible to be ordered by the emperor and the empress dowagers. There is no chance to play any tricks.

But the result of the first day of the Feast is unexpected because none of those dishes satisfy the little emperor. Although the Empress Dowagers think that some are tasty, the Feast is held for the emperor. If the emperor does not like it, all of their efforts will end in vain.

“How can this be? I’ve had a detailed discussion with Mr. Weng about the state of His Majesty, in which we speculated his preferences. Nothing could go wrong. This dish was cooked just for the emperor, so I’m sure its taste is pleasant, but why did it fail to draw the emperor’s attention? Was it because there were too many dishes today, and they haven’t tasted his ribs yet? It must be so!”

Although Xu Zhiwei is confused, he firmly believes that the emperor and the Empress Dowagers have not tasted his ribs, and this makes him more confident. Therefore, he decides to serve it again the next day in a larger plate with a white and red glaze, so that it would be more conspicuous, and the masters would notice that.

The Feast on the second day ends earlier than the first day, because these chefs basically try their best to produce the most satisfying and most appropriate dishes on the first day, which are in vain, so many people have lost confidence. In addition, although each of these chefs is able to produce a number of unique dishes, the palace has strict rules that some particularly unique dishes cannot be taken out. Fearing that the names of ingredients and dishes might be considered violations of some taboos they do not know, which might get them into trouble, the next day most of them choose to play safe by serving the same dishes as those of the first day. Thus, the time for cooking is shortened.

Before the dishes in the Pass-through room have been withdrawn, General Director Fu comes to the Imperial Kitchen with a face like that of the mythical creature “Xing Shi” (Sculptures of a mythical creature placed on the ridge of the Palace to counteract evil forces.) on the ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. By the look on his face, all the chefs waiting for the result there can figure out the result today.

“Let me put it this way, the two Empress Dowagers are angry today. They’ve given you a chance to show your talents, but you’ve done it perfunctorily. In the past two days, none of the three hundred courses satisfied the emperor. Tomorrow is your last chance. If you fail, you will be sent into prison. Ponder over what to do.” With his words, he walks away, leaving behind a group of cooks sweating.

The result confuses Xu Zhiwei, for it seems his exquisitely prepared dish has never appeared on the table. That shouldn’t be the case. Even his dish failed to cater to the emperor’s taste, the Empress Dowagers also should respond to it and there should be some comments. How is it possible that nobody tried this dish? Did my dish really fail to cater to their taste?

“No! There isn’t anything wrong with the spareribs, so I assume Mr. Weng’s prediction was spot on. It is obvious that the ‘Feast to the Emperor’s Taste’ is a chance for everyone, but in fact my chance was taken away by others. But how did they do it?” Xu Zhiwei feels that he must see Mr. Weng immediately, because it will be the last day of the Feast. The emperor’s loss of appetite signifies his loss of a prime opportunity, and the beginning of his days in hell.